


The Thread

by sparrowwrites



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:54:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24143941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowwrites/pseuds/sparrowwrites
Summary: There is no denying the connection formed between Zuko and Katara in the Crystal Catacombs under Ba Sing Se. This story picks up at the end of The Western Air Temple and features the delightful enemies to lovers trope.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 114





	1. Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of ATLA returning to Netflix, I thought I'd post this fic that's been sitting on my desktop for awhile now. I'll upload when I can since I don't have a consistantly working computer at the moment.

The battle with the third-eyed freak was over. Katara shook with a mixture of exhaustion and shock as she watched the smoke billow from the valley below. The destruction around her filled the watertribe girl with deep sorrow and an even deeper ache for revenge. This was Zuko’s fault. This was Zuko’s assassin that did this to the temple around them. She watched in disbelief as the boy with the scar pulled himself onto the ledge across the valley, silently wishing that he’d fallen to his death with the man he’d paid to kill Aang.

She followed the rest of her friends back to the fire, Haru and the other Earth Kingdom boys assessed the damage to their sleeping areas and determined everything to be structurally sound. Toph added support to areas of the buildings that felt unsafe and did away with the rubble that littered the campsite. Katara busied herself with healing the minor cuts and bruises sustained from the bits of stone turned shrapnel in the explosions.

Sokka winced as a particularly large splinter of stone eased itself out of his flesh with the help of Katara’s healing. He began to thank her before footsteps were heard approaching from the ledge.

Katara felt anger boiling in her chest. The sight of the banished prince had her seeing red and every part of her wanted to hurl that rage at him in the form of a wave knocking him into the abyss beyond the ledge he stood upon. Seeing his face brought back every memory of their time on the run. He’d burned down her village, hunted her and her friends for nearly a year, kidnapped Aang, broken her trust, and sent an assassin after them. No amount of repentance and rescuing would sway her mind. She clenched her jaw, felt her molars grind, and took a step forward, the blood rushing through her veins deafening her to his words. Her fingers found the cap to her waterskin when their eyes locked. Deep gold captured sapphire blue as he spoke.

“I know that my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world.”

The waterbender froze. There was a pause after this statement as they stared at one another. The spell was broken when Zuko shook his head and turned to Aang. Katara’s fingers slowly lowered from the waterskin and she relaxed her posture. The persistent throbbing in her ears died away. She knew why he directed this statement towards her. He knew exactly what he was doing, and she wasn’t going to fall for it again. Her thoughts were drawn back to the Crystal Catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se. In the blink of an eye, she felt the fiery anger within her turn ice cold.

XXXX

“Why did they throw you in here?” Katara lashed at the hunkered figure, “Oh, wait, let me guess. It’s a trap.”

The waterbender paced back and forth in the crystal cavern while keeping a watchful eye on the other prisoner. She didn’t trust him; no, she _couldn’t_ trust him. This had to be a trap, even if her gut didn't tell her so. There was no other explanation for his sudden reappearance. While running through the numerous scenarios bombarding her thoughts, Katara suddenly stopped her pacing and turned towards him.

“So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!?” she spat her words like venom. 

He finally turned to her this time, a look of grief and confusion on his face. She paused and waited for his response. Why wasn’t he defending himself? He lowered his gaze again, and Katara felt her anger explode from within her.

“You’re a terrible person! You know that? Always following us. Hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world’s last hope for peace.” Her voice started shaking and she moved closer to the boy on the ground.

“But what do you care?” She continued, “You’re the Fire Lord’s son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” a raspy voice echoed in the cavern.

Katara was taken aback by the lack of rage in his voice. This is Zuko she was talking to right? She took a breath before growling, “I don’t?! How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally… the Fire Nation took my mother away from me.”

“I’m sorry,” Zuko’s eyes found hers, “That’s something we have in common.”

The craggy ground beneath her knees dug into taught skin barely covered by her leggings. She became aware of every ache in her joints and throbbing in her muscles. The air in the room was suddenly too warm, far warmer than it should have been in this underground prison. Her cheeks darkened as she soaked in the pain written all over the scarred face in front of her. It was the face of someone that knew loss. A face that she was familiar with every time she caught a glimpse of her reflection.

Zuko sat up to face the waterbender. He studied the fraught expression on her face, waiting for an answer. He often forgot how little people knew about him. The Royal Family doesn’t air their dirty laundry. Only his Uncle had an inside look at the motivations that spur his actions. No one knew his full story except him though.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before,” Katara stood up to move closer to him again. It felt as though a thread had connected the two benders and that with every word, the spoil was reeling her in. The compassion within her spurred into action. Moments ago, she was intent on ripping him to pieces for everything he’d done. Now all she wanted was to complete the jigsaw puzzle before her.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied flatly. Zuko rested his chin on his knees. 

His thoughts were clear for the first time in ages, but the lack of direction in his mind made it difficult to think. The all-consuming thoughts of honor and hunting the Avatar had been stripped away by the fever he’d experienced only days prior to this imprisonment. Instead of rage, he felt lost. And instead of driven, he felt confused.

“It’s just that…” Katara bit her lip, not sure how much she should say. She continued, “...for so long now whenever I pictured the face of the enemy, it was your face.”

“My face…” Zuko lifted a hand to cover his scar and turned away from the watertribe girl, “I see.” 

He was used to people seeing his scar and balking. It was a hideous thing brought about by a hideous act. The fire prince shrunk in upon himself. Katara thought he looked so small, so… vulnerable. And vulnerability was never something she expected out of him. Zuko had always been fierce, unyielding truly, in their battles. He always looked so confident in every move he made in his bending. But now the boy looked unsure and even...broken.

“No, no that’s not what I meant,” she backtracked. La, she felt guilty about her outburst…

“It’s okay, he looked back up at her, “I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished Prince cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I’ve realized I’m free to determine my own destiny. Even if I’ll never be free of my mark.”

XXXX

Katara lay staring at the air temple ceiling from her bedroll. Aang knew what was best, she repeated in her mind. Aang wouldn’t have let Zuko join them if this wasn’t the right thing, right? He may be the Avatar but she still felt apprehension. He’s also just a kid and a very trusting one at that. The child could make friends with anyone, apparently. Today was the first that she’d heard of Aang wanting to be friends with Zuko in the past, when he’d actively hunted them. Somehow it didn’t surprise her.

Aang didn’t know how she felt when Zuko turned on her in Ba Sing Se. He didn’t know the white hot, searing pain that spread through her chest when the connection she’d felt with the fire prince was shattered as he sided with Azula.

She groaned in frustration. That connection she felt was so tangible in the Catacombs. So tangible that she’d battled with it every night since that crossroad. It haunted her in the form of nightmares tinged by blue flames and glowing green crystals.

The immense guilt she’d harbored from the experience only made it harder to handle. She rolled on her side and replayed it in her mind again.

XXXX

“Maybe you could be free of it,” Katara whispered. 

“What?!” Zuko stood up now, finally on even ground with the waterbender.

Katara took a deep breath and touched her chest, “I have healing abilities.” 

“It’s a scar,” Zuko turned away with a sigh, “It can’t be healed.” 

Suddenly, Katara was beside him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he braced his foot behind him on instinct to prepare for a strike. But there was none.

Katara held out a small vial inscribed with the Northern Water Tribe’s crest.

“This is water from the spirit oasis at the North Pole,” She explained, “It has special properties so I have been saving it for something important. I don’t know if it would work, but…”

Zuko was frozen in place. Usually with Katara involved, it was a literal block of ice entrapping him, this time though, it was her hand reaching towards his face.

The feeling experienced by both parties when her fingers grazed his scarred cheek was nothing short of electric. Her mouth parted slightly, her unfinished sentence hung on her lips. Lips that the fire prince was now entirely engrossed in. The thread between them pulled impossibly tight and for a moment, Katara thought that he might kiss her. If he’d had another moment to contemplate it, he probably would have too. 

The physical connection was lost once Aang burst into the room. She’d flung herself from the older boy as if caught doing something unspeakable. However, the unspoken connection, the thread, stayed wound between them and she could feel his burst of jealousy when she’d run to the Avatar. In the moment, she hoped he felt her pang of sadness at having to leave him there.

XXXX

Katara thrashed in her bedrolls again as she vividly remembered the betrayal she felt when Zuko shot a blast of fire at Aang moments after thinking he’d come to their rescue. She could have ended it there. So much of their time and grief could have been saved. As she closed her eyes, the memory continued rolling like a film projected onto her eyelids.

XXXX

She had Azula, but Zuko cut his sister loose from her watery grip. His fire sliced through more than just her water in that moment. It set the thread between her and the boy alight and shot the distinct pain of betrayal through her chest.

“I thought you had changed!” She shouted in disbelief. 

His eyes were set in a stone cold glare as he spoke, “I have changed.” 

As the dai li poured into the room, Katara knew they were overwhelmed. Eight men surrounded her, but all she could do was keep fighting. Her hair had long since been knocked loose of its braid. Dark locks drenched in water and sweat clung to her neck and back, the feeling anchoring her to the battle. Her muscles were fatigued from her fight with Azula and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold back the agents. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of light, and suddenly Aang was rising into the air. It was Aang in the Avatar State, a beacon of hope in their hopeless battle. She remembered the joy she felt when seeing him utilize the state he’d been unable to control before now. She remembered the horror that filled every part of her when Azula shot him down with a bolt of lightning. And she remembered the shame that coursed through her veins when she healed the young boy on her lap, realizing that she had almost wasted the water from the spirit oasis on Zuko, the very man that allowed this to happen.

XXXX

Katara sat bolt upright and took a deep breath. She wouldn’t allow for this to happen again. There was no more spirit water to fix Zuko’s missteps and no more patience left in her heart for the boy that she thought she’d grown to know.

With a fierce determination in her step, she scoured the temple for the disgraced Prince. She didn’t know exactly what she would do when she found him. She only knew that she was going to set this straight now before any trouble could arise.

Zuko was standing in front of the air bender statues on the ledge closest to the battleground from this afternoon. He looked lost in thought as he stared at the massive stone figures on the walls. His lips slightly upturned in what could’ve been mistaken for a smile.

Katara stood in the doorway, studying the boy, no, the man before her. It had been a short few months since the Catacombs but she couldn’t help but see that he’d grown in that time. Perhaps it was the way he stood taller and more sure of himself. In the prison, he’d been hunkered on the ground and slouching in defeat. When he joined the battle, he kept himself low, following Azula. But now? He seemed to be under his own control with his own _destiny_.

There was that word again. _Destiny_. It holds so much meaning to the people around her. For someone that has been wrapped up in the Avatar’s destiny to save the world, she felt like it should hold more weight to her. As a waterbender and member of the Southern Water Tribe, she had always been more of a go with the flow kind of person. Such was the nature of her people. 

To Zuko, this word held almost as much weight as honor in his mind. Destiny was something handed to him from birth as a member of the Royal Family. Destiny was something burned into the very flesh of his face by a father so cruel as to threaten the life of his only son. It was no wonder that the moment he was faced with a fleeting glimpse of the freedom of choice that he wanted to run with it. It was raw and unreal, but the connection he felt to the watertribe girl in the cavern only made it more plausible in his mind. Unfortunately, choice wasn’t a habit for the Fire Nation Prince. An La knows how easy it is to fall back into old habits.

Katara’s mind was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t notice the man turn to face her. Upon seeing his face, she was ground back into reality. The reality that he was a traitor and not to be trusted.

He started moving towards her but stopped after reading the glare on her face.

“You might have everyone else here buying your…” She paused to think of the word then continued, “transformation, but you and I both know you’ve struggled with doing the right thing in the past.”

She took a step towards him, anger flashing from sapphire orbs. A single finger jabbed into his chest.

“So let me tell you something, right now,” Katara’s voice was barely above a whisper, a growl really, “You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang,” _or me, she thought,_ and you won’t have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I’ll make sure your destiny ends… right then and there. Permanently.”

She backed away while maintaining eye contact, relishing in the genuine fear dancing in his golden eyes. He better be afraid of what she could do. All the better to deter him from fucking up again. She turned on her heel and returned to her bedroll. All the while thinking that she almost wanted him to give her a reason to release the rage pent up within her small frame.


	2. Traitor

Zuko watched the simmering waterbender leave before sinking to his knees. He buried his face in his hands, feeling the heat emanating from his burning cheeks. He couldn’t expect her to trust him, especially after what he’d done in the past as their enemy. Especially not after the crystal catacombs. 

Guilt wreaked havoc in his mind and body, and the burned Prince felt deep down that he deserved all of this anger and anguish. His fingers curled tight, pressing his nails deep into the palms of his hands.

“ _Why am I so bad at being good?”_ he found himself whispering to the night, echoing his shouts from earlier that day.

Bile rose in his throat, and Zuko hardly had time to crawl to the ledge before his meal of ground nuts and berries resurfaced from lunch. His stark white knuckles shook as they gripped at the edge of the seemingly endless abyss below him. Everything in his life had brought him to this moment, heaving over the edge of an ancient air temple, but somehow this didn’t make the burned prince feel any better.

Zuko rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. He remembered the anger he felt when he saw her embrace the Avatar. He remembered the white hot fury that coursed through his veins when he lunged at Aang and the frustration that burned in his chest when Iroh held him back. But even that couldn’t top the shame he felt now as his mind drifted off to the memory of the catacombs.

XXXX

“Zuko, it’s time we talk,” Iroh spoke gently before turning to Katara and Aang, “Go help your other friends. We’ll catch up with you.” 

“Why Uncle…” The prince glared as he watched the two figures disappear into the darkness of the tunnel.

“You’re not the same man you used to be, Zuko,” he rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It is time for you to choose. It is time for you to choose good.” 

The teenager held his head in his hands, soaking in his Uncle’s words. Choose good? He didn’t even know what good was anymore. Everything felt wrong, and everything felt foreign. The only sensation that didn’t feel like a branding iron held to his skin was the cool touch of the waterbender when she had touched his face. . .

_‘Maybe Uncle will tell me,’_ he thought as he turned to ask.

There was a flash of green light refracted within the room, and he yelled in surprise at his Uncle’s scream. Zuko could hear Iroh struggling against the crystal and it dawned on Zuko that they were under attack. Iroh was trapped by crystals that shot from the floor of the catacomb. In an instant, Zuko took a fighting stance and turned towards the new opening in the wall before them. He grit his teeth as he recognized Azula with her Dai Li agents, still struggling to reign in his thoughts. 

“I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle,” Azula spoke up from the shadows, “But Zuko, _Prince_ Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?”

A bead of sweat slid down his forehead as his eyes shot open wide. _‘A traitor?’_

“Release him immediately,” Zuko growled.

Azula sauntered forward and curled her first finger under her brother’s chin, her talon grazing his skin. 

“It's not too late for you, Zuko,” she gripped his chin roughly and turned his scarred cheek towards her, “You can still redeem yourself.”

She turned away with a laugh, leaving Zuko standing alone. His heart sank as he felt a familiar feverish chill take hold of his body. The warm tingling in his scar was replaced with an uncomfortable tightness that pulled at his face. The boy raised a hand to where Azula touched him in an attempt to wipe the repulsive feeling away.

“The kind of redemption she offers is not for you,” his uncle spoke quietly, his words intended only for his nephew, “You can still choose good.”

Azula turned back towards them with a snap, “Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?”  
She turned to the scarred prince with a zestful glint in her eyes, “I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together.”

She paused and walked back over to Zuko, placing a hand on his shoulder, “At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want.”

“Zuko, I am begging you!” Iroh shouted from behind him, “Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want.”

In that moment, the green glow of the room turned blue and his scar began to burn.

XXXX

Zuko opened his eyes with a gasp, taking in the darkness engulfing his surroundings. Blue still tinged the edges of his vision. He rose slowly to his feet and carefully picked his path back to the room Sokka had shown him earlier that evening without bothering to light a flame for himself to see. His usual instincts took over, and he followed his internal map of the temple, all the while keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him and his peripherals alert for movement.

_‘Blue.’_

The teenager gently raised his hand to his scar and tried desperately to replace the burning tightness in his face with the gentle tingling that had consumed him when the waterbender touched him in their prison hold. The more he thought about her, the more he realized the blue coolness of her eyes had been as soothing to his thoughts as her fingers had been to his marred skin. 

She was the only person besides the palace healers that had ever touched his face.

When Song had tried to touch him on his travels, he'd immediately caught her hand and pushed her away. He always pushed people away.

 _'Except for the waterbender,'_ he thought. She was the only one he'd ever felt drawn to and the only person besides Mae that he'd allowed so near. The more he thought about it, that feeling of a comfortable pull to the left of his sternum, over his heart, was unique to her. The closer she was, the stronger the pull, and the less his inhibitions remained dormant. 

The tingling feeling the waterbender gave him was addictive in the rawest form. Zuko craved that warmth and comfort he felt in the caverns.

As Zuko rounded a corner within the temple, he stopped. Lowering the hand on his scar to his sternum, he grunted in discomfort. The tightness in his chest had grown again. Lighting a flame in his palm, he noticed two things. One, there was only one door at this end of the hallway, and two, it definitely was not the entrance to his room. 

His heart thumped louder in his chest as he heard muffled sobs from the room before him. A foreign yet familiar feeling pulled at his chest, causing the teen to take tentative steps backwards in an attempt to relieve himself of the pressure, to remove the sound from his eardrums. Even so, he was drawn to the room. Every second he stood there, it felt as though he were being torn in two.

Tears welled in his eyes before he turned to run back towards where he knew his room should be.

 _‘I did this,’_ he thought, flashes of burned skin, faces screwed in terror, and pain enveloped his vision. The tears flowed steadily now as he finally flung his door shut behind him. The cracking sound from the rotting wood panels snapping off their hinges didn’t register as he curled up on the flat surface that dared call itself a bed.

XXXX

Zuko was staring between Katara, Aang and Azula. A watery grip held Azula stationary, as she struggled to regain her balance. His eyes darted rapidly as his mind spun from the pressure. There was nothing he wanted more than for his life to return to some semblance of normal, to live in the palace again, and to fulfil his life’s destiny.

“Argh!” he yelled, startling both Katara and Aang. A blade of fire severed the waterbender’s hold on his sister, as Azula’s blood-red lips curled into a smile. “Thank you, brother,” she cooed, and the battle raged on.

The look on Katara’s face was a mixture of grief and horror as she shouted something that sounded like “change.”

Zuko’s eyes locked on icy blues when he assured her that he had.

His punches thrown at the Avatar felt like home. In fact, it _had_ been his home for the past three years. Just as Azula had hoped, he relished his return to it. The firebender graciously took in the glory of bending his element in connection with the burning hatred broiling inside of him. His time away from hunting the Avatar had felt so forced, hollow even, and entirely without a direction to head towards. Despite this realization, the prince still couldn’t remove his Uncle’s words from the back of his mind, nor could he forget the look of betrayal on the waterbender’s face that day.

It took everything within him to remind himself that the Avatar would be his and he would be going home. His breath ragged from fighting, he centered himself again and again on this goal: The Avatar would be his, and he would be going home. The Avatar would be his, and he would be going home. . . Everything would return to normal.

The next thing he knew the smell of burning hair and flesh invaded his nostrils. The Avatar was struck by Azula’s lightning, cooked from the inside out by the sheer amount of energy pulsing through him. The prince could do nothing but stare at the body as it fell back to earth and into the arms of the waterbender. Feet rooted in place, he fell to his knees with rocks and broken bits of crystals digging into his skin.

Then someone was screaming. Whose scream it was, he didn’t know, but he did know that his throat felt raw even after returning to the palace. All of him felt raw and painful all at once. In particular though, the tightness in his chest returned tenfold.

XXXX

Zuko rolled over again on his bed. That battle had played in his mind numerous times since Ba Sing Se, but he’d never _felt_ it so vividly before. The residual pain was unusual and troubled the young man greatly.

He couldn’t shake the feeling in his chest. The tightness that pulled at his ribcage was not dissimilar from the tightness in his face. It felt like a deep, seething scar. He sighed, rubbing at his chest with a fist, hoping to massage more of the aching away.

However, the longer he sat awake, the more the pain grew. The connection that pulled at him in the hallway of the air temple was still there, nagging the boy. His Uncle had told him about people and their energies. At the time he wrote it off as something ridiculous like Ty Lee’s auras or some shit, but now he would do anything to make this aching go away.

Taking a deep, settling breath, Zuko sat up and focused on his chi and the thread. Rather than fighting the attachment, he allowed the thread to transmit the feelings throughout his mind and body. The images of burning flesh seared the inside of his eyelids again, and the scream of a little girl pierced his eardrums.

Zuko flinched and opened his eyes before breathing deeply again and returning to the meditation.

 _‘Something horrible happened,’_ Zuko thought. His arms wrapped himself in a hug, hoping the feeling would transfer in return. A smell continued to pervade his senses though, a smell that reminded him of the day of his banishment. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of it. He found comfort in imagining the warm embrace from his uncle that day. He allowed that comfort to envelop him and made his chi flow through the thread he knew was attaching him to the waterbender.

All at once, the aching stopped. Zuko rolled on his side, debating a return to the waterbender’s hallway, knowing all too well that it was a terrible idea.

“Thank you, Uncle,” he whispered before continuing in his head and rising to his feet, _‘I’m sorry, Katara.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heellllooo! I hope y'all are enjoying this so far. I've been going through and changing up my original save file to spice it up a bit. I'll be posting another chapter next week! (Yay new internet!)


	3. Embers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Campfires past midnight make for great albeit sometimes awkward conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! Leave a comment to let me know that I should keep going with this story!

Katara sat bolt upright in her bedroll. Sweat and loose hair clung to her brow as she processed the dream replaying in her mind. It was one she had often, and it left a horrid image behind her eyelids and an unforgettable stench in her nose each time.

The dreams were never quite the same from night to night, but the theme was always clear. A sense of dread, someone burning, and a blood curdling screech. This time was unique though, because her chest ached like hell. 

Her hand clenched into a fist over her sternum, applying pressure in a thinly veiled attempt to remove the pain. Realizing this would not suffice, she rolled to her side and pulled the cap from her waterskin. Her fingers now coated in water, she replaced her hand over her sternum and started bending.

Katara sighed as she laid back down on her bedroll, the tightness in her chest now replaced with warmth and comfort as the blue glow dissipated. A slight pressure remained, but it was bearable.

She stared up at the pitch black ceiling above her, attempting to wipe the images from her mind’s eye. The person in the fire was unrecognizable, but she knew who it was supposed to be. One part of these dreams remained constant for the watertribe girl, both due to the images seared into her memory and the memento resting above her collarbone. A necklace lay on the ground beside the charred remains, untouched by the flames that had ceased their roar and settled to a burning glow.

_ ‘Mom.’  _ A tear rolled down her cheek. 

She then attempted to forget the smell, despite knowing it was in vain. Smell is a powerful component in memory, and no matter what she tried in the past, it always stuck with her.

Sokka never knew the reason why she hated his obsession with meat. Of course, he probably assumed it was to avoid giving his bad puns validation. That’s what sisters do right? Get under your skin? There was no way in hell that she could tell her brother that every time he cooks a meal over their campfire, she feels chills run down her spine, and bile rises up in her throat.

Even worse, the smell never quite left their family’s hut after that final fire nation raid. Within hours of when Hakoda and Katara rushed through the door to find Kya’s remains burnt beyond recognition, he moved himself and his children in with Kanna. Despite the lack of space, he refused to allow his children to return to their old home, and he doubted he could ever force himself to either. 

That day, Sokka was given a mission to collect as much snow around Gran Gran’s hut as he could while Katara was left in the care of Kanna inside. She didn’t know this until much later, but Hakoda had waited outside the family’s hut while Bato and a couple other warriors of the tribe cleaned the burnt flesh and charred bone from the former home. Kya’s bones were collected and delivered to her husband inside a sealskin sack for a proper burial.

Katara remembered walking to the mound of stones over the ice ridge at the far edge of the village with her father and brother throughout her young childhood. After her father left for the war, she found herself kneeling beside her mother’s final resting place many times alone, speaking to the largest rock at the head of the grave. 

Sokka never wanted to come. He was convinced it was pointless to visit a grave because once a person dies, they’re gone and you can’t speak to them. Katara knew he didn’t fully believe that though. She saw the way his lips sought words he couldn’t bring himself to speak when he thought she wasn’t looking.

Rolling off her bed, Katara quietly dressed herself and went out to the campfire in the temple square. The embers glowed faintly, still emanating heat under a layer of ashes left behind by the sticks she'd gathered this afternoon.

Katara sat in the warmth with her knees tucked to her chest. She hugged herself tightly and felt tears start forming in the corner of her eyes. This was her nightly routine after a nightmare. So far none of her travel companions except The Duke had found her out here since they've been staying at the temple.

She liked the little earth kingdom boy. He's barely older than she was when she lost her mother. It’s hard for her to imagine how hard it would be losing both parents instead of just one, but judging how often the boy seemed to have nightmares himself, she knew it affected him greatly. 

The night was alive with the sounds of moth-crickets, badgerfrogs, and various other small creatures looming outside the temple walls. Their natural song lulled the girl into a stupor as the rising temperature of the fire eased more of the tension her body accumulated throughout the nightmare. She was so at ease that she almost didn’t notice the crunch of footsteps coming from the boys side of the dormitories. Almost.

Katara’s head snapped up and her fingers moved to the cap on her waterskin as she jumped to her feet, faltering slightly from the sudden movement. A small flame burst to life across the courtyard illuminating the last face she wanted to see in that moment.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” Katara’s voice seethed with contained rage.

The flame extinguished as pale arms raised in surrender, the man’s figure continued walking forward toward the spent fire. Once within the ring of warmth, Zuko lowered himself to the ground, avoiding Katara’s icy gaze whilst maintaining his pose to show that he meant no harm.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he mumbled as he stared into the fire.

The waterbender slowly lowered herself back to her seat on the ground, eyes remaining fixed on the man beside her, unwilling to believe his raised palms.

Zuko lifted his head and glanced at the girl beside him. Every muscle on her form tensed at his gaze, fingers twitching near her water skin. Blue eyes flitted between his face and his still-raised arms.

"I'm not going to attack you," Zuko stated flatly.

Color rose to Katara's cheeks, and she locked her eyes back on the glowing embers in front of her. She heard movement beside her as the firebender finally lowered his hands. Her fingers that twitched at the waterskin cap clenched into a fist in an attempt to gather herself, to return to the calm she'd almost attained before it was sorely interrupted.

"How can I trust you?" Katara whispered, all too aware that the tears welling in her eyes threatened to spill over.

Zuko closed his eyes, unsure of how to answer. He'd never been very good at trusting anyone and was beginning to realize that he hadn't  _ wanted _ someone to trust him before. The banished prince had demanded respect, honor, loyalty and many other things in his life. Trust, however, was never seen as a priority. As Azula always said, who needs trust when there is fear.

His sigh was hardly audible and he hoped the watertribe girl hadn't noticed it, although certain that she had.

"That's not a question I can answer," Zuko admitted. 

Katara turned to look more directly at the firebender, head cocked slightly to the side as she contemplated his response. This Zuko was nothing like the fierce Prince that decidedly attacked them back in Ba Sing Se. She saw the hurt and the regret written all over his face, but couldn't see the confusion that had plagued his demeanor in the crystal catacombs. 

"I want to trust you," she whispered, "but I'm not sure if I can again."

"I…" Zuko started before noticing the pain in her eyes and the hand clutching at a phantom wound on her chest, "Are you okay? Were you hurt by the combustion bender earlier?"

Katara's eyes widened, and she quickly dropped her hand to her lap. She felt warmth and color returning to her cheeks.

"Uh, no," she said quickly then pointed to her sternum, "I mean, not there. I've already healed myself. I'm fine."

"Oh right," he replied awkwardly, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

He locked eyes with the waterbender and froze, enraptured in the moonlight dancing amongst the sapphire blues and cool greys of her irises. Heart racing, he tried speaking again, but found no words. 

"Um…' Katara tried looking away but couldn't bring herself to break his gaze, "Are  _ you _ okay?"

"Mhm," he gulped, "Just peachy."

The watertribe girl paused, taken aback, then cracked a smirk.

"Did you just say ' _ peachy' _ ?" She scoffed.

"No. I mean, yes?" He looked away suddenly, "My uncle says it occasionally. Must've picked it up from him."

"You look about as likely to say 'peachy' as that doom and gloom girl that's always tagging along with Azula," Katara averted her gaze back to the glowing embers, trying her damnedest not to think about how the orangish glow reminded her of Zuko's penetrating gaze.

_ 'Mai,'  _ Zuko shrunk in on himself at the thought, not wanting to think about how he'd hurt her. Although the waterbender's remark isn't inaccurate, he fought with himself not to jump to her defense. He sighed again, recognizing that now would be a terrible time to show any sympathy with someone that the gang deemed an enemy. It's not that she was a bad person for being so dreary though. 

Zuko had recognized long before he left the fire nation that whatever love story they had started would not end in happiness for either of them. With his change in destiny came a change in priority. The peace he wanted to bring to the world was also meant for himself, and ending a dead end relationship was part of his plan to restore balance to his life.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Katara frowned at him, reading the worry lines on his face like a scroll.

"That's another question I don't think I can answer," he responded, chin on his knees.

There was a pregnant pause before Katara spoke again.

"Me too."


	4. Kindling

As much as she hated feeling on edge with Zuko around camp, Katara couldn’t help but feel very strange without him there. He had been at the forefront of her attention since he’d joined the group over a week ago. Until this morning, the only distraction from his presence was a not-so-pleasant reunion with Azula yesterday.

After that encounter, Katara was nursing the boys back to health through the night. Aang had burns on his fingertips that inhibited his own ability to heal. Despite his spiritual connection and natural talent with bending, his healing abilities had never been quite as good as her own. She’d never had an issue with healing when burnt. Sokka’s arm healed nicely yesterday, she thought proudly to herself. The waterbender had been planning on doing a second round on him this morning, but that was all put on hold by his little hunting trip.

She sighed inwardly and lay back down on Appa’s big fluffy tail. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about healing Zuko’s arm and back from where Azula had attacked him from behind. She  _ had _ wanted to let him suffer, but if looks could kill, Aang’s glare at the mention of not healing their newest cohort would’ve sent her to an early grave. 

The glistening water enhanced each highlight and shadow of toned muscle, putting the girl in a trance that was only broken by the firebender's groan of relief as scar tissue formed over seething burnt skin.  _ That groan _ . She paused her manipulation of the water for only a moment, but something told her he'd noticed, because a hint of red spread over the firebender’s face and neck that had nothing to do with his burns.

Katara shook her head to clear her thoughts. She could almost  _ feel _ his tense musculature as she healed him. She wasn’t supposed to want to touch him yet in that moment, all she wanted was to place her hands on him, to feel the rippling muscles and tendons as she felt the ripple of her element. Gritting her teeth, she fought with herself,  _ ‘You don’t want to touch your enemies unless you’re hitting them, right?’ _

It didn’t matter that Zuko was not technically an enemy anymore. To Katara, he could’ve just killed the Fire Lord right in front of her, and he’d still be an enemy. Her enemy.

Despite that thought, there was a part of her that missed seeing him at the campsite. She was always aware of where he was and what he was doing, purely to stay on guard, of course. To the two of them, it felt almost like a game of cat and mouse. Katara stalked the man as if he were prey around the camp while he meditated, drilled Aang on firebending, and fed the turtleducks his crumbs at the water’s edge after meals. However, if anyone were to ask Katara which role she played, she would always swear it’s the mouse.

A loud crashing noise brought Katara’s attention back to the present and away from the firebender as a boulder came flying through the campsite. She whipped her head up, catching a glimpse of Aang hiding behind the treeline and grinning sheepishly up at her.

“What the heck are you two doing?” Katara groaned, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Practicing,” Toph suddenly appeared from a hole in the ground beside Aang, “This is called practicing, sweetness. You should try it sometime.”

“Toph I wouldn’t…” Aang started.

The waterbender simply rolled her eyes and laid back down on her bedroll, cushioned by Appa’s abundance of fur. She didn’t want to bother with Toph’s goading. It wasn’t worth it. She was tired, physically and mentally, from remaining on high alert for such an extended period of time.

“Suit yourself, sweetness,” Toph laughed, “You can keep on moping about missing your boyfriend for all I care.”

“Boyfriend?” Aang questioned, looking between Katara and Toph.

“What?! I have no idea what you're talking about,” Katara sat up and glared at the earthbender. 

“Short, kinda skinny. Bends fire,” the girl continued, “Goes by Zuko. You’re both crazy about each other.”

Katara scoffed and turned away in an attempt to hide her burning face.

“You can deny it all you want, sweetness,” Toph laughed and spit once again on the ground in front of her, “Let’s go back to the open field and finish sparring, Twinkletoes.”

Aang stared open mouthed at Katara as he slowly backed away and followed Toph back through the trees. The kid’s eyes practically bulged out of his skull as he processed the conversation he’d just witnessed. 

But was it a conversation or was it simply an accusation?

‘ _ Fucking Toph,’  _ Katara thought to herself. She rose to her feet and started pacing the campsite in an attempt to end the wandering in her mind through the wandering of her feet, ignoring the growing feeling inside her chest.

If anything, it felt like the struggling start to a fire. Kindling in the form of golden eyes smoldered behind her solar plexus as the waterbender's chi struggled to flow freely. She was frustrated and torn between the two options this presented. Would the smoldering cease or would the flames engulf her entirely?

Katara reached toward the water's edge and held a fist-sized ball of the element to her chest. For now, she'd end the tension by dousing the kindling herself. The signature blue glow brought with it the temporary relief she'd sought after, even if it didn't fully quiet the thoughts inside her head.

_ ‘In what world would I want Zuko?’ _

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“...And that’s how I ended up with two fish hooks in my thumb. Crazy right?” Sokka rambled on.

Zuko mumbled a half-hearted agreement as he’d been doing the past several hours when prompted. The firebender had yet to  _ regret _ his decision to help the young watertribe man find his father in a high security fire nation prison in the middle of a boiling lake, but it had certainly been awhile since someone spoke to him in such an enthusiastic and... incessant manner.

Regret was something reserved for more serious transgressions.

He ran his fingers through his thick, slowly lengthening hair and stared out at the horizon where sky blue met ocean waves. The mingling hues felt familiar and comfortable to him, having spent such a long span of time at sea. 

Blue had always been a prominent color within his memories. It ranged from the turtleduck pond reflecting a cloudless sky on the palace grounds, to the flames bursting from Azula’s fist due to her rage induced superheated bending, and lastly to the soft glow of the healing waters Katara had held to his back and shoulder the night before reflecting in her sapphire irises.

Zuko closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to continue tumbling further back into the turbulent seas that were Katara’s eyes as she stared into his own in the crystal catacombs. Katara’s silky soft furs as they brushed against him as they sat together at the campfi…

“Zuko? Earth to Fire Prince,” Sokka waved a hand in front of the firebender’s face.

“What?”

"I said we're here," the younger man turned and placed his hands back on the railing, ever so slightly leaning toward their destination, "You can see the steam flowing off the sides of the caldera even though the island isn't visible yet."

Zuko stood to get a better view of the Boiling Rock, rolling his shoulders back as he straightened himself. There were many places he'd rather be than knocking on the fire nation's door, but to keep the waterbender's brother safe? It would have to be worth it.

"So what's your plan?" Zuko turned to look at Sokka to see his brows furrowed.

"Uhh," Sokka started, looking at him sheepishly, "this is about as far as I got."

"You mean to tell me that you decided to break into one of the highest security prisons in the Fire Nation and didn't come up with a plan for what to do once you got here?" Zuko stared slack-jawed at the watertribe man.

"Well, to be fair, you were the one that told me to go with my gut more often and not plan  _ everything _ ," Sokka shrugged, "And I honestly wasn't sure if we'd get this far."

"Sokka?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"Yes?" 

"If I wasn't still trying to convince you guys that I've changed, I'd throw you overboard right now."

Sokka laughed and clapped a hand on Zuko's shoulder, "Good one, buddy. Besides the only person not yet convinced is my sister. On second thought, don't throw me overboard because you'll never convince her after that."

The firebender groaned and sat back down with his back against the war balloon wall. Potential scenarios ran through his head ranging from fireballs shooting them down over the boiling lake to them crash landing on shore only to be discovered by guards and  _ then _ be thrown into the boiling lake. And the last thing he needed was to think about the waterbender still not trusting him.

"How would you invade a fire nation prison? You know more about them than I do," Sokka piped up from the other side of the engine. He looked out over the ocean in hopes of seeing through the mist over the island.

"Just because I'm from the Fire Nation doesn't mean that I know how the prisons work, Sokka," the fire bender said sarcastically.

_ 'Conventional prisons anyway.' _

The ship that had been his home for three years was a prison in its own right. Although there was nothing physically holding him there, it wasn't as though he had anywhere else to go. Especially since the Fire Nation banished him, and the other nations resented his bloodline. His mission to hunt the avatar was a mobile cell without bars, a prison within his head. Escaping that hell hole was a nightmare in the form of a fever and chills curled up on the floor of the Ba Sing Se house his uncle called home.

Just like the mental and political prisons Zuko experienced personally, the Fire Nation wouldn't make a physical prison break easy. The guards would be highly trained and ready to handle any insurgents without a second thought. Their uniforms protect them from the element of fire for good reason. It wouldn't do much good to wear flammable armor to protect yourself from fire bending criminals. Even their faces would be protected so as to limit the amount of exposed skin waiting to be burnt.

It took a moment for Zuko to put two and two together, but when it hit him, his eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet. He'd hidden amongst the fire nation before. The prince clapped a hand over the watertribe man's mouth to cut Sokka off from whatever tangent the younger man had just started.

"We hide in plain sight."

"Zuko, you're crazy. They would recognize us," he paused, "Well, they'd recognize _you_ right away."

"You've seen Fire Nation soldiers before, Sokka. I was there when you did. Think about it for a second," he spoke urgently.

"Oh oh oh!" Sokka shouted after pondering with a puzzled look on his face, "Those stupid skull mask things!"

"The only drawback is we'll have to ambush two guards to steal their uniforms. It's not foolproof, but it just might work," he turned slightly to look out towards the island, pondering his brief stint hiding amongst admiral Zhao's crew when the man had tried to assassinate him before continuing, "Besides, I've done it before."

"I'll have to trust you on that."

Zuko sighed inwardly and braced himself as the mist started to engulf the war balloon. The word trust weighed heavily on his mind. It wasn't long before the balloon began to lose altitude, the hot steam over the lake cancelling out the buoyancy of the hot air within the balloon. Noticing the water quickly coming into view below them, Zuko used his bending to push the collapsed balloon faster in the direction of the island at the center of the caldera, all the while praying to whatever spirits were listening that the bright flames wouldn't alert the guards as they crashed unceremoniously into the rocky sand of the shore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know if you'd like me to continue this work. I lost a majority of the finished draft when my computer stopped working a few months ago but that won't stop me from rewriting when I can!


	5. Safe pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I split this one in two because Katara's portion ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow. Happy New Year!

Zuko felt numb.

Physically and mentally.

His fingers were curled into fists, stuffed under his armpits in an attempt to salvage as much heat as he could. The breathing cycle he studied with his uncle meant to keep him warm was hardly enough to take the edge off, but at least it was doing something.

Once thrown in this solitary confinement cell, aptly named the cooler, Sokka’s plan for him went south. Zuko was meant to be thrown in here to detach it from the floor of the prison from the inside. However, with the thick ice surrounding the bolts and his firebending sufficiently smothered by the freezing temperature, it was dawning on the young man that they might be entirely  _ fucked. _

It was difficult to think with his extremities screaming for warmth. Zuko resigned himself to the breathing cycle pattern again in an attempt to bring back the cushion of hot air that insulated his body from the worst of the chills. 

_ Breathe in, count, breathe out, hold, breathe in… don’t think about the cold... breathe out... don’t think about deserting Mai… breathe in, count, breathe out, hold… don’t think about her uncle’s intent to kill me… breathe in... _

Perhaps it was best that he wasn’t fully able to think at that moment.

The droplets of moisture from his warm exhalations threatened to freeze on the tip of his nose and turn him into a living, breathing icicle. As he felt the droplet begin to solidify, he had half a mind to let go, to allow the cold to penetrate deeper within. If it weren’t for their mission to rescue Sokka and Katara’s father, and now Suki as well, that thought would have outweighed his will to survive this. What did he have to live for besides his uncle anyhow? What in the four nations was worth putting up with this frigid torture?

_ Katara. _

The young firebender’s neck snapped up, and his eyes shot open. Admittedly, the thought was not a conscious one and its sudden outburst brought a red tinge to his unscarred cheek. It had spoken itself from the depths of his mind, conjuring a wave of heat that tumbled through him as it did. He shook his head slightly before breathing deeply, all the while still unsure of whether this feeling was pleasant or not.

Centering himself once again, Zuko recognized that this heat wave was a somewhat familiar one. His chi, already flowing freely from his meditative breathing, roared with the strength of a raging fire within him, providing much needed warmth inside the cooler.

He smiled to himself as it reminded him of the First Fire he'd held at the Sun Warriors temple. The way the energy had pulsed like a heartbeat was comforting. The more he thought about it, the more it reminded him of his own beating heart right now as he thought about  _ her _ .

He thought of the crystals inside the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se reflecting their green light off of her glistening eyes as her unbelievably soft fingers caressed his scarred cheek. He thought again how it never crossed his mind to pull away in that moment. Never in a million lifetimes would he have been prepared to feel as safe as he did in that moment when she touched him.

After his mother's disappearance, Zuko had given up hope of feeling safe again. She'd been his protector, the source of love and affirmation he lacked from the rest of the royal family. Uncle Iroh had his moments in the boy's childhood but it was never consistent enough to warrant his full trust. Even as a child, Zuko had come to know the tendencies of the Fire Nation royalty - kindness meant manipulation and resulted in pain.

Mai, despite their long term relationship, had never felt safe either. She was comfortable at best. Their close proximity before his banishment had meant his more heavily fortified walls were put up while she had a foot in the door, allowing her easier access to his affections. He could remember being with her before his scar and that was enough to keep the firebender from panicking when she touched his face. Even still, she'd never touched his scar. He could tell it disgusted her. Although, to be fair, most things disgusted Mai.

With that earth kingdom girl, Song, touch had been foreign to him for a long time. It scalded him with the pain of his father's hand and the fire meant to mark the young prince as dishonorable. It was no wonder that he'd pulled away as quickly as his conscious mind allowed. Song was nice, but she was not safe.

Only Katara felt safe and the longer he recognized it, the more she reeled him in. Whether she consciously wanted to or not.

Zuko allowed his mind to travel back to the waterbender and the ethereal glow of her healing water. He relaxed as he remembered how it had pulsed over his burnt shoulder and back, making the pink tinge of her cheeks appear near violet. Her fingers had danced a hairsbreadth over his equally flushed skin, weaving the thread between them into a blanket of chi.

A blanket of chi that he was immensely grateful for in his prison in that moment.

He grimaced slightly as the pressure behind his breast bone grew in proportion to the heat gracing his frozen body. Fighting the urge to suppress it, he allowed the energy to continue its course from his center as he'd done that first night after joining the Avatar’s group. As the energy reached his eyes, an image of the waterbender meditating flickered behind his eyelids. It startled him at first, nearly breaking his concentration, but it was a welcome sight. He realized he missed her. 

Zuko flexed his fingers as warmth finally started to flow through the energy paths of his body's extremities. Taking the opportunity of his renewed strength, he shot small bursts of flames at the bolts barely visible through the layers of ice at the base of the cooler, melting it away until metal met open air. He quickly glanced at the small window to ensure it remained closed before bending down and removing each fastener. A small smile lingered on his lips as the last bolt came free and disappeared into the folds of his prison uniform.

_ Thank you, Katara. _


End file.
